Candlelight
by Dp-Marvel94
Summary: For Angst Day and Ectober Day 6, Danny had refused to think about the cloning incident. It had been traumatic and horrifying but after Dani returns and Danny starts seeing her as a sister, he has to deal with the grief and guilt. Because Danielle was not the only clone of him Vlad created. The others are all dead and it's Danny's fault.
1. Angst Day

Danny tried really hard to not think about the whole cloning thing directly after it happened. That experience had been traumatizing, painful, and terrifying so he obviously didn't want to dwell on it. So he suppressed it, refusing to deal with any of his feelings about this time until after Danielle showed up the second time. They had managed to stabilize her but it had been really close. Danny had thought for a few seconds that he had lost her and that had nearly crashed him. After that, she left to travel the world but agreed to try and come back every month or so. Danny used some of his meager allowance to buy her a cheap prepaid phone and got her to promise to call him every week. But he still worried.

He stared at the ceiling sometimes, hoping that she was safe, that she was actually eating and sleeping, that she didn't do something stupid and reckless and get herself hurt. Man, was this how Jazz felt when he was off fighting ghosts who knows where?

Danny suddenly sat up at that thought. Somehow, throughout the weeks of worrying about and growing closer to Dani, he had become an older brother. An older brother whose little sister was off somewhere on her own doing who knows what. He could definitely sympathize with Jazz's over protective tendencies now.

After that, Danny made a point of introducing Dani to all his ghostly allies. While he couldn't offer her a permanent home with him (he wasn't ready to tell his parents yet and they still were not the most…supportive of Phantom), he could at least offer her that. Frostbite, Pandora, Dora, and Clockwork all meet Dani and offered to let her stay with them whenever she needed or wanted to. With that arrangement, plus Jazz and his friends helping provide monetary support to buy Dani clothes and food more often, Danny's worries (and conscience) were eased somewhat.

But that didn't last though. With the revelation and acknowledgement that Dani was his little sister, he couldn't help but think about the other clones, the ones who had destabilized when he meet Danielle. They had been real beings, that he had meet and fought. He had seen them suffer and fall apart, dripping into green viscous piles of ectoplasm like Dani almost had. And he had done nothing; he'd let them die. Quickly he tried to push those thoughts away but they relentlessly came back, especially in his dreams.

_The skeletal clone falling apart when Danny shoot an ectoblast at him._

_The big muscular one splatting into a pile of goo._

_The tiny one melting with a distressed cry after he overshadowed Danny_

_And the prime clone, mouth opens in a silent scream. His eyes bore into Danny's, begging to be saved, for help that would never come._

Danny sat up quickly, right after the last images passed through his mind. His heart was pounding. He flopped back onto his bed with a huff. These images had been torturing him for weeks. He shook his head. There was no point in even thinking about them, right? They hadn't been thinking like Dani, they had been mindless, like Vlad's animal ghosts lackeys. It didn't matter. What happened wasn't his fault and he couldn't do anything about it.

Those thoughts didn't actually make him feel any less guilty.

The next day had been difficult. He missed lunch and Lancer's test because of ghost attacks. He'd gotten badly bruised and dislocated his shoulder while fighting. Then he's gotten detention for skipping class, resulting in a phone call home and getting grounded. Then Danny had to sneak out because a ghost was wrecking the park.

Danny paused when he saw the ghost, feeling anxiety flare in his gut. It was a skeleton, like Vlad's clone of him. No this one was neon green with empty eye sockets. His clone had been jet black with ruby red eyes. He shook his head, dislodging the thought. He shot a neon green blast at the ghost and it quickly fell apart. Danny's heart sank- just like his clone. He then raised his eyebrow at the sight in front of him; the ghost drew itself back together, reforming into an upright figure. It growled at Danny who rolled his eyes and wiped out the thermos. He sucked the ghost into the thermos with a sigh and headed home, still trying to shake the residual guilt.

Exhausted, Danny flopped onto his bed after turning back into his human form. He quickly fell asleep though it was anything but restful.

_Danny floats in front of a glowing green portal. This…isn't his parent's lab? The room is in disarray, covered in broken glass and twisted metal. Danny's stomach turns. On the floor are foaming puddles of viscous ectoplasm. The bile rose in his throat. Oh God. These aren't just puddles; these are corpses. Half-melted skeletons and disembodied eyes. Patches of pale skin and bloodied black and white hair. Red human blood swirling on top of the ectoplasm in little ringlets. _

_Danny's stomach heaved as he spun around and he vomits. No no no. This is Vlad's lab. He can't be back here! The smell assaults his nose and Danny heaves again, hands on his knees. This….this isn't… this can't can't. Tears prickle in his eyes._

"_Really Danny? You're just going to ignore me."_

_Danny flinches at the sudden voice but quickly turns around. Floating above the carnage is…himself? _

_The white haired, green eyed figure crosses his arms. "Then again, you've been ignoring me for months." The ghost's hands then go to his side and lit with neon green energy. "You killed me and you don't even care!"_

_In the blink of an eye, Danny crashes into the wall as the ghost body-slams him. Eyes blazing and teeth bared, the ghost punches Danny with lite fists. "I'm dead and It's your fault!"_

_Danny turns his head, trying to dodge. "I didn't…." He's silenced with a punch to the gut._

"_You could have saved me! But you didn't even try! You just watched me die!"_

_With a massive ectoblast to the gut, Danny putts the ghost away from him and sends him flying. He shouts blazing eyes, though his voice quivers. "That wasn't my fault!"_

_The ghost hits the floor with a thud, landing on his back but he quickly shoots up. He sends an ectoblast at Danny. "Yes it was! You wouldn't just give him your DNA! You destroyed my chamber with your wail!" The ghost flies at Danny, who slammed into the wall again when the blast hit him. He punches Danny in the face. "You made me destabilize!"_

_Danny's eyes widen, realizing exactly who this is. His lip quivers. "That…that was an accident. I…I was scared."_

_Danny's clone grabs his wrists. He spins Danny away from the wall. "I don't care!" He shoves Danny onto the floor and presses him down with his knees. "I'm still dead because of you!" _

_The clone starts punching Danny who squirms trying to get away. Danny begs. "No please" Tears are starting to stream down his face. "I thought Vlad was going to kill me. I didn't want to die!"_

"_I didn't want to die either!" _

_At that, the clone stops punches him. In a flash of light, he turns into his human form- shaggy black hair, blue eyes, and a suit like the one Danny wore to the reunion. Identical to Danny._

_Danny stares and stops squirming. He hadn't noticed earlier but the other boy had started crying too at some point during the fight. At the same time, the clone moves off of Danny. He's kneeling beside him and his chest is starting to heave with sobs. "I wanted to live! I wanted to get to feel the sun on my face, to taste food, to see the stars. I wanted to hug Danielle! I wanted to make jokes and laugh! I wanted to learn about everything! I wanted to be alive!"_

_Danny slowly sits up, dumb founded at the speech. He feels like his heart stops when the other boy looks at his face. "I wanted to meet you." The clone clinched his fist. "But you don't even care. You won't even acknowledge I ever existed."_

_Danny's mouth finally caught up with his thoughts. He stuttered. "That's…that's not true."_

_The clone narrows his eyes at Danny. "Yes it is. My entire existence disgusts you. I would have been your brother and you won't even think my name."_

_Danny looks down, feeling the tears well again as the sorrow mounts. Because he's right. His clone…no Daniel, Because Danny knows that is what Vlad had named him. Daniel is right._

_Danny says the only thing he can. "I'm sorry."_

_Daniel looks at him with identical sorrow in his eyes. He places his hand on Danny's. "I know you are. But it won't bring me back."_

Danny jolted awake. That…that had been a dream? None of it had been real but his chest still aches with sorrow. His mind replayed the images from his dream and from the death of Daniel and the other clones in real life. He turned onto his side, hugging his knees to his chest. All he could do was weep.

At some point later, Danny heard the door to his room creek open. In the darkness and with his tear-filled vision, he could barely see Jazz's face in front of him. She kneeled by the bed, gently taking his hand and rubbing her thumb across his fingers. She coaxed him to talk though, he could barely make out the words. Before he could even think to stop himself, the words were pouring out of his mouth. All of the pain and guilt he'd suppressed since Vlad cloned him came out because he finally acknowledged the truth.

Because yes, even though they had not lived very long, all of the clones had still been real. The three that he fought, they had been mindless. Danny had felt that when the tiny clone had overshadowed him. He had been barely more intellect than an animal, just obeying Vlad out of fear of punishment. But Danny had felt his pain and his fear as the little clone desperately tried to overshadow him but felt that he was dying.

But the prime clone, Vlad's 'perfect' son, Daniel, he would have been different. He would have been like Danielle and like Danny himself. He would have been a real, living breathing person. He would have loved, and laughed and hoped and dreamed.

He, and all of the clones, really would have been Danny's brothers. Because if Dani was his sister and he choose to acknowledge her, he had to, need to acknowledge them. They deserved that at least, even if they had worked with Vlad against Danny. Daniel deserved that at least. He deserved a chance to live. But now he never would and it was Danny's fault because he had killed him.

Jazz's soft voice cut through Danny's ramble. "That's not true. That was not your fault. It was Vlad's. He used those clones against you. He tried to hurt you and made you fear for your life. What happened to Daniel was an accident. You shouldn't blame yourself. Danielle doesn't blame you." She paused, as if debating if she should say that. "I don't think Daniel would blame you either."

Chocking back a new wave of tears, Danny stammered. "But…you don't…you can't know that."

Jazz rubbed his hand again. "You can't know either. You don't know who Daniel would have grown into. He could have stayed loyal to Vlad and fought you. But he also could have turned against him like Dani did and grown to care about you. The point is you don't know."

Unfortunately, that just made Danny cry more. Jazz frowned and rubbed his back. "There, there. Let it out."

She stayed with him until the tears stopped and he fell asleep.


	2. Candlelight

For Ectober Week, Day 6. This is the second part of my Angst Day story.

The next day, Danny woke up still feeling tired. His eyes were still red and crusty. Honestly, he only felt a little better after talking to Jazz the previous night. The rest of that Saturday was spent doing homework, catching ghosts, and trying not to think about… everything. That evening, a little before bed, Jazz knocked on his door.

"Come in!" He answered with little thought.

She came in holding her laptop. "I wanted to see how you were doing after last night."

He spun his chair around to face her, frowning. "I'm fine Jazz. Completely and totally fine. Not still feeling crappy at all." He was trying to sound authentic but there was a ting of sarcasm. He put his hand in his hands.

Jazz's eyebrow raised at his reaction. Her voice filled with compassion. "Danny, it's okay to not be fine."

He rolled his eyes, ignoring the statement. "I'm guessing you wanted to show me something?"

Narrowing her eyes, she turned the laptop to face him. It showed a website about grieving the loss of a stillborn child. "I think this may be relevant to what we were talking about earlier."

Danny raised his eyebrow, arms crossed. "I don't see how. I'm sixteen. I didn't lose a child."

She studied him with compassionate eyes. "I know that situation's different but you did loss someone." He looked down, remaining silent as Jazz continued. "And the principle is the same. When a parent mourns the loss of a miscarried or stillborn child, it's not just about grieving the loss. It's also about grieving for the life that child would never get to live."

Danny glanced at her, voice tense. "What are you trying to say Jazz?"

"I'm saying that you need to grieve."

Danny gritted his teeth. "No, I don't. I need to forget about all of this."

"Danny, I can see that this is tearing you apart! You can't just keep avoiding your feelings!" She spread her arms, pleading.

"Yes I can!"

Jazz put her head in her hands. "Will you at least take a look?

Wrinkling his nose, Danny quickly perused the website. "Seriously, Jazz. Making a grave, having a funeral, lighting candles? This isn't going to help."

"Yes, it will. Performing acts like this are supposed to help you find closure." Jazz argued.

"Closure? How is this supposed to help me find closure?" His words were biting. "This does nothing. This won't bring them back. All it does is remind me, I killed my brother. "

"Daniel's death wasn't your fault!"

"Will you shut up? You don't know anything! You weren't there!" He growled.

"That's not fair! I can't control that!"Jazz yelled.

Danny stood up, eyes flashing green. "Get out."

"Danny." At his reaction, Jazz's eyes widened but her voice softened.

"Get out of my room, Jazz." He scowled.

"I'm just trying to help!"

"I don't need your help!" He shouted, then he gritted his teeth in angry regret. "I should have never told you about what happened. This is my problem! It has nothing to do with you!"

"Damnit Danny! This isn't just about you." Her face morphed into a profoundly hurt expression. "Yesterday you told me I had another brother who died before I got to even meet him!" A tear fell from her eye as she balled her fists. "Don't you dare tell me this has nothing to do with me!"

Just like that, Danny's anger was snuffed out like a candle blown out. Noticing the heavy bags under Jazz's red and watery eyes and the greasy, disheveled hair, his heart dropped. What he said last night had shaken her deeply. And of course it had, Jazz also loved Dani as a little sister. And now she knew about Daniel, the brother she'd never meet. And now she was hurting too, just like Danny himself.

Danny's shoulders fell while Jazz's expression remained one of hurt anger. But her face softened when Danny whispered. "I'm sorry." He looked down, not really knowing what he was apologizing for. That he had yelled at her, that she was upset, that he told her about the other clones making her upset, that Daniel died because of him leading to Jazz having to mourn him.

Jazz who had been standing plopped down on his bed, eyes still watering. Danny carefully avoided her eyes, his own tumultuous emotions swirling in his chest. After a minute, he sighed and stood up. The boy sat down on his bed beside his sister.

He bit his lip, considering what to say. He exhaled. "I'm sorry for yelling at you. You're hurting too and I shouldn't have belittled that."

Softly, Jazz replied. "It's okay. I was being pushy." She wiped her eyes and reached to close the laptop, voice sounding defeated. "We don't have to talk about making a grave for them. We...don't have to do it if you don't want to."

Danny looked at his sister skeptically. She really wasn't going to fight him on this. That wasn't like her at all. She actually sounded really disappointed, more than she normally did when he rejected her help. Also...she said we, not you. She said we, as in the two of them, didn't have to do it. He raised his eyebrow.

"You wanted to do this, not just for me, but for you too. Right?" He looked at her earnestly.

His sister turned her head, nodding. "Yes. I think it would help me...and you too."

He frown. "I still don't see how it would. I….I still let four people die, Jazz. No matter what I do, they'll still be gone. And I can never do anything about that."

She put her arm around him. "You're right. We can't change the past. But we can honor them, and remember them. You, me, and Dani are the only ones who know they existed."

"And Vlad." Danny added sourly.

"Vlad doesn't count. Vlad made four children and then used them as slaves." She gritted her teeth. "He didn't care if Dani and the other clones died. And he may think he loved Daniel, but he didn't. If he did, he wouldn't have treated Danielle like he did!"

Wrinkling his nose in disgust, he agreed. "You're definitely right about that. That bastard never cared about Dani or the other clones."

"At least Dani has us now. And so do the other clones. Even though they're not here, we're their family. We need to remember them, at least."

Danny nodded at the statement. He had called Daniel his brother and believed that with all his heart. And Daniel did deserve to be remembered. Heck, refusing to think about all this was what led to his nightmare and breakdown yesterday. And so Jazz was right, he needed to deal with his issues….. and maybe Jazz's idea would help.

"Alright. So about making the grave, how are we doing this?"

Jazz's face lit up with surprise. Then she grabbed the laptop, flipping it open. "Let me show you some of what I found."

Two weeks later, Dani visited Danny in Amity Park. The two meet in their typical place, the fountain in the park, several hours after sunset, though Danny did not come alone like he usually did. At seeing the younger halfa, Danny's eyes lit up and he waved, briefly adjusting his grip on the person he was holding.

"Danny!" Jazz shrieked.

The boy chuckled. "You're fine. We're not that far from the ground."

He touched down and Jazz signed in relief. "I am never letting you sneak me out again."

"You snuck out!" Dani exclaimed, surprised.

Jazz rolled her eyes. "Just so I could come and see you." She scoped Dani up in a hug who smiled widely at the gesture.

After Jazz let go, Danny also hugged the other halfa. He pulled away after a moment. "Jazz also came because the two of us have something to show you."

Dani tilted her head. "Okay. What is it?"

Danny motioned towards the nearby woods. "Follow me."

The two halfas and the human made their way through the trees slowly. Their feet crunch on the newly fallen leaves. Soon the three came to a large oak tree. A large, smooth stone sat in front of them.

"You guys didn't just bring me here to see a rock, right?" Dani asked skeptically.

Jazz shook her head. "No, Dani. This is a grave." Dani's eyes widened in alarm but Jazz continued gently explaining. "Danny told me about that other...clones and what happened to them. We wanted to make this to remember them."

"We wanted you to be here, to remember them too." Danny turned to her mournfully.

Dani's eyes widened in surprise. She looked between the rock and the two siblings beside her. Her eyes started to well up with tears. "You...want to do this, for them?"

"Yeah. We thought that you'd want to be here." Danny rubbed the back of his neck, nervously. He wasn't sure how to bring this up. Would Dani even want to talk about the other clones? "I mean I know we haven't really talked about...the others but I was and still am really upset about what happened to them. I thought… maybe you are too."

Dani stared at him in disbelief. "You are? Upset I mean."

Danny put his hand through his hair. "Yeah. I had nightmares about this for weeks. I...I kept seeing them die over and over again for weeks. And Daniel…" He swallowed at the painful memory. "I had a dream of him. He...he was so angry but… he broke down crying at the end. Because he wanted to get to live." His eyes turned down. "But he never got to."

A tear fell down Dani's cheek. "You...you said his name."

"What?" Danny gapped, not expecting that reaction.

"Daniel…. I thought you forgot about him." She started, voice neutral but then shook her head, her voice wavering. "You never said anything about him or the other's so I thought you didn't remember them, or didn't care."

Danny frowned at her hurt reaction. She thought he didn't care? Then again, he had never mentioned how he felt about the other clones. And.. if she thought he didn't care about or was disgusted by the other clones, then what did she think he thought about her? He'd really messed up, but hadn't he?

Putting his hands on her shoulders, he earnestly looked into her eyes. "I am so sorry, Dani. We should have talked about this earlier but I do care. The others are my family just like you are. I should have realized that sooner."

Dani whimpered. Tearing falling she hugged the older halfa. "They were my first brothers, before you. And I lost all of them." Danny squeezed the weeping halfa. "I miss them so much."

Jazz also came in from behind Dani,sandwiching her in a group hug. "I am so sorry, Dani."

The three stayed like that for several moments and then Danny pulled away, followed by Jazz. Dani wiped her eyes and sniffled. With red rimmed eyes herself, Jazz asked. "Can you tell us about them, the other clones?"

Dani nodded. "Yeah but first can you...uh...tell me about this first?" She motioned to the stone in front of them.

With a nod, Jazz motioned them to sit down. The siblings sat on the grass in front of the stone. Danny ran his hands across the dry grass. If he was honest, he was still a little skeptical of this but would do it for Jazz and Dani. Jazz then took the canvas bag she was holding and placed it in front of them, as Dani looked at her questioning, apparently just now noticing it. The redhead pulled flowers, paint, paint brushes, a lighter, and candles about of the bag.

Jazz handed Dani the flowers. "Here, you can place this in front." She laid the flowers down. Jazz then pointed to the paint and brushes. "We wanted to paint the others' names on the stone."

Then Danny picked up a candle. "And we were going to light these candles too." He rolled it between his hands as Dani still looked at the things curiously.

Dani picked up the brush. "Why are we doing this?"

"Well, flowers are normally given to show sympathy for a loss. And the names are to mark who the grave is for, who we're remembering and honoring." Jazz explained. "And the candles, they mean a lot of things. Light in the darkness, hope, life, remembrance-both of the dead and those still here."

Dani pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Let's do this then."

One by one, the siblings painted on the names of the other clones. Though, three hadn't been given proper names by Vlad, Dani told the other two want she had called them. And as they painted, she told them stories.

And then one by one, they lit the candles.

For Bones, who loved to lay out in the sun and touch the flowers in the garden. He would stick his face in the roses, as if trying to smell them.

For Muscles, who had a deep, boisterous laugh. He laughed at anything and everything, especially loving the stray cat that would wander into the garden.

For Tiny, who would sleep on Dani's chest or hand with his ghostly tail wrapped around her fingers. He let Dani chase him through the mansion, until Vlad yelled at her to stop.

Dani had loved those three, though they couldn't speak or communicate above conveying some basic emotions. They were her playmates, even if none ever understood her games.

But, there was one more. One more Dani hadn't been ready to talk about until the end

Flicking the lighter on, Dani lit the last candle. She sighed. "When Vlad finally showed Daniel to me, I didn't understand. Vlad said he was going to be my brother but he wasn't done yet. Then Vlad left and I took a closer look. And I was shocked, he looked like me. I can't look away, I was amazed. I got closer and put my hand on the tank. And he opened his eyes. Daniel opened his eyes and tilted his head. He looked so confused."

Dani started tearing up. "And then he smiled at me. He slowly moved his hand to the glass across from mine. It was like he wanted to...be near me. We stayed like that until he fell asleep again."

She swallowed, more tears falling. "He never woke up for Vlad but would for me. I'd read to him and tell him about all the things we'd do when he was ready. I even I taught him how to shake his head yes and no, so we could kind of talk."

She sniffed. "I was so happy. I would have a brother who could talk and play with me. Who would actually be able to understand my games and who would hug me."

Finally she sobbed. "I loved him so much. But...but he died, the same day I left Vlad. And I didn't even realize until later, when I was alone. I cried so much. I wanted him to be there with me but I failed him. I couldn't save him from Vlad too."

As Dani cried until she had no tears left, Danny and Jazz put their arms around her. At some point, the two halfas had returned to their human forms so the three sat in darkness apart from the soft candlelight.

With his own face wet, Danny watched the candles' flames. Dani's words of course reinforced what Danny already knew; Daniel was like him. He couldn't help but think of the what ifs. What if Daniel had lived? What if Dani wasn't alone on the streets because she had her other brother there with her? What if Danny gained a twin as well from Vlad's experiments, not just his little sister? Would he and Daniel have hated each other or would they have been close?

Not for the first time, Danny wished he had actually gotten the chance to meet Daniel and get to know him. He wondered who Daniel would have grown to be.

The wind blew through the trees, increasing the flicking of the flames. Danny's eyes fixed back on the candles. Jazz had mentioned some of the things candles represent but left one out. Sam once told him candles lit the dead's way to the afterlife, a beacon to let them to their rest. Danny wasn't sure if that was true or if the afterlife really existed for people like him, for ghosts. Do they just fade or is there something after? Are Daniel and the others in a better place or are they just gone? For the first time, Danny really hoped that there was something after, that Daniel wasn't really gone and maybe, just maybe Danny would get to meet him properly, somehow someway.

The wind blew again, swirling around the siblings. To Danny it felt comforting, like a hug. He felt like they were being watched, but not threateningly or creepily. Something neon green flashed in the woods in front of them. But Danny's ghost sense didn't go off. The wind blew again, wobbling the flames of the candle. Danny sighed pulling Dani closer comfortingly as Jazz also squeezed her. The silent, comforting presence remained. Then the flames wobbled again, flashing green before going out. And then the presence was gone.


End file.
